Author: Catherine

Class, First a couple of teacher confessions: Emily found an error in the midterm test that’s been there since I first developed it in 2022.  And I couldn’t find it so this is clearly an example of a blind spot. Ironically, it was the question on bias.  I’ll be making minor adjustments in the gradebook (.33 points, I believe) to add points to everyone who has submitted their quiz to date....

The consequence assignment is by far the hardest one of the series.  There’s a lot of individual components to consider.  If you have questions, let me know.  If you have suggestions on how to make this easier for people to understand, let me know. I always leave these assignments with a list of possible improvements. Many of you observed that you wouldn’t use the tables provided to equate...

While I like all of our discussion board assignments (or I wouldn’t include them), the discussion on accessibility is always one of my favorites.  Should we talk about the potential for bias here 😊 This topic always reminds me to focus on how I can improve my skills in communicating with others.  It’s also a recognition that our own communications needs can change over time.  My 93 yo...

This is the week where students review both FEMA's Whole Community approach and Amanda Ripley's video on her book "The Unthinkable".  I often wonder if students see the connection between these two assignments.  While the Whole Community approach is about preparedness and "The Unthinkable" is about response, there is still an element of community for those who must react to the immediate...

Each semester provides an opportunity for new students to share their perspectives on a old document and this semester is no different. One of the new topics discussed this week raised a question on the interaction between risk communication and activism - something we haven't explored before in this class.  In a quick search, I found a few interesting articles - the one that caught my attention...

Thanks to those of you who were willing to go on the peer review assignment journey with me - This is one of the exercises that I continue to modify.  The course used to have people review the presentations AFTER they were submitted, and I feel that this approach misses the opportunity for students to learn from others as well as submit a better work product.  If we connect this exercise with...

I find last week’s topic on climate change to be fascinating from the risk perception/risk communication/risk appetite perspective. Climate change is a great example of an extended risk as opposed to an immediate risk.  I’m not sure I see the difference in how people prepare for natural disasters in their own communities vice how we prepare for something that has much more of an extended...

Can you believe it's almost time for Thanksgiving?  Wow, this semester has flown by... Week 10 is one of my favorite risk communication topics – the conundrum around risk matrices! I’ve mentioned this in several individual comments, but it bears repeating as a class comment. The consequence table (as well as the likelihood table) can absolutely be modified to reflect the size of your...

Class, Nice work as you work through these modules.  As always, I enjoyed reading your perspectives. Not being a user of social media myself, I often wonder if I’m at risk because I’m not “keeping up” with crowdsourcing. For me, I find that social media is like the dementors in Harry Potter, and I certainly don’t have time to have the life sucked out of me anytime soon.  I also...