The Winter 2014 issue of the journal Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities featured an article on how Brownfield Action, a simulation developed at Barnard College with the Columbia University Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL), has been successfully used to teach science in multiple high school and college-level curricula.

Brownfield Action is a web-based, interactive learning simulation in which students assume the roles of environmental consulting firms and use scientific data to investigate a suspected contaminated land site. In 2003, Brownfield Action was selected as a “national model curriculum” by SENCER, an NSF science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education initiative.

The article was written by Peter Bower of Barnard College; Ryan Kelsey of the Helmsley Charitable Trust, who served as CCNMTL’s Director of Projects until 2012; and 10 educators from institutions who used Brownfield Action for teaching and learning.

The full text of the article is available on SENCER’s website and as a downloadable PDF.