CASE TEACHING NOTES
for
"Breathing Easy About New Air Pollution Standards"
by
Kathryn Rowberg
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University Calumet
The goal of this case is to give students a taste of a real-world situation
while dealing with course-related facts and issues. The timeliness of this case
gives it greater pertinence since students will be able to follow both SIP-related
articles in the newspaper and the Supreme Court decisions on the merits of EPA's
eight-hour ozone standard and more fundamentally EPA's authority to set new
standards.
This case is set in northwest Indiana and the information comes largely from
notes of the Northwest Indiana Regional Air Quality Steering Committee meetings
and from the website for Indiana's Office of Air Management (see references).
This case can be modified easily by searching on the web for the equivalent
of the Air Pollution Control Board in any state and reading the documents describing
the rules for NOx emissions and the reports of their comment periods. Most of
the features of the case will be found true for any state, e.g., a proximal
metropolis to blame, heavy industries, utilities, kilns, and vehicle congestion
during rush hours. Other geographical regions might choose to add a comment/role
concerning agricultural emissions, off-road vehicles, jet skis, or drive-through
facilities.
The case has been scripted to facilitate students' exposure to real-world problems
with a minimum of time expended by either the instructor or student. After reading
the town hall meeting flier and listening to outside experts discuss background
information and the significance of NOx reduction, students are expected to
describe in their own words the situation at hand regarding ground-level ozone
and NOx emissions (see the "Questions" at the end of Part II of the
case). The questions dispel common misconceptions regarding the difference between
ground-level ozone and stratospheric ozone problems and the fallacy of the ozone
"hole." The questions also ensure that the students know how ground-level
ozone is generated and why NOx emissions are being targeted for reduction. Students
learn about some of the issues and concerns regarding NOx reduction by hearing
classmates read scripts of stakeholders. Finally, the students are given the
opportunity to create a list of possibilities for NOx reduction to submit as
public comment for the NOx SIP.
MAJOR IMPACTS / ISSUES
The purpose of the case is to give students the opportunity to grapple with problems related to the air pollution topics they study much as the government would. The impact of the case is evidenced when students continue to follow this issue outside of class by reading news articles, searching the web for more current information, or being involved with environmental issues in their community.
Many of the issues concerning stakeholders in NOx reduction can be inferred from the scripts. Two tangential issues mentioned in the case may be of interest and further developed. The first is the role of public comment in developing rules. Both the constitutional origin and the method of fulfillment could be investigated. The second is the legality of the new ozone standard. The lawyer in the case alludes to the claim brought against the EPA that the standard was determined using an "unintelligible principle" and, furthermore, that the EPA has overstepped its authority by setting new standards. The Supreme Court will review these issues along with a cost-benefit issue in 2001.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
This case can be completed easily in one 50-minute class period. The town hall meeting flier and the call for a State Implementation Plan, which constitute Part I of the case, should be handed out for reading prior to the day of the case. Thirteen students should be selected from volunteers and each one assigned a role along with a copy of the script. Be sure to encourage the students to act and read in character.
To begin the case, the town spokesperson (a role I recommend be taken by the instructor) convenes the town hall meeting by welcoming the class and inviting the EPA and IDEM representatives to read their scripts, which constitute Part II of the case (six minutes). The town spokesperson then divides the students into groups of four to seven students and hands each group the questions for discussion that appear at the end of Part II of the case as well as a "transcript" of the EPA representative's presentation so that students can review points they may have missed or want to read again.
The town spokesperson allows 25 minutes for groups to form and answer the questions. Having groups answer these questions appears to keep all the students actively involved as opposed to an alternative method of planting the questions in scripts and having only one person respond to each question. Enough information is given in the flier and the transcript to answer the questions, but discussion will be deeper if these and related concepts have been addressed in the lecture or covered in the text.
The town spokesperson then invites comments from the public. The scripts in Part III can be read in 10 minutes. After the last comment, the town spokesperson invites the students to make recommendations. The last group discussion question should have started the students thinking about ways to limit NOx emissions, so by this point they should have developed some recommendations. The town spokesperson, however, may need to help the class come up with at least the first few recommendations. Students might be more eager or able to make recommendations as a stakeholder than for themselves.
After about six minutes, there should be at least eight recommendations for the vote to begin. The town spokesperson calls for a vote. Each student is allowed one vote, and any role-playing student has an additional vote to cast in character. This tends to spread the votes out over the recommendations and better represents the general public. The town spokesperson marks the recommendations with the most votes to indicate which recommendations would be forwarded to IDEM. The instructor may wish to use the last minute of class time to comment on the recommendations and relate these to state or local actions to reduce NOx emissions.
REFERENCES
Acknowledgements: This case was developed with support from the National Science Foundation as part of the Case Studies in Science Workshop held at the State University of New York at Buffalo on June 7-11, 1999. The case first appeared in the September 2000 issue of the Journal of College Science Teaching (30(1), 48-52). It is reprinted with permission from NSTA Publications, 2000, Journal of College Science Teaching, 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201.