Dr. Nicole Kras, Introduction to Urban Community Health
Urban Green Space Project Description
This urban green space project was part of an online Introduction to Urban Community Health course. In this course students learned about evaluating issues and problems pertaining to community health and identifying resources for urban community health problem solving. Before introducing the project, students learned about the benefits of green spaces and read articles such as “Determining the health benefits of green space: Does gentrification matter?” (Cole et al, 2019) and “Who benefits from urban green spaces during times of crisis? Perception and use of urban green spaces in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic” (Lopez et al., 2021) and watched videos such as New York City’s Green Revolution (The B1M, 2018). After the green space project was introduced to students, the class worked together during a synchronous online meeting time to develop the grading criteria for this project identifying requirements such as description of observation, organization of presentation, and resources selected. This grading criteria was then shared in a Google Doc so students had an additional opportunity to modify any of the grading criteria.
This green space project was scaffolded into three parts. The first part required students to visit a green space in New York City and conduct a naturalistic observation including taking fieldnotes (worksheet provided) and photographs. During this time students are asked to focus on park design and observations that support/do not support physical, mental, and social and emotional community health. These online students were provided the extra credit option to attend a 45-minute public tour of Bryant Park with the instructor and their classmates to learn about the history and design of the park, and then conducted their naturalistic observations as part of a supported group.
The second step of the project was to submit the field notes to the instructor for feedback and further guidance if needed. The last step was to create a 10-slide presentation. This presentation included specific requirements such as listing the benefits of urban green spaces, introducing the green space they selected, including a minimum of five photographs they took in the green space and explaining how the photographed area supports/does not support community health, and providing a supported conclusion if they support or do not support the development of green spaces in cities. Presentations were posted to Padlet and students had the opportunity to view and comment on their classmates’ work.
Assessment Tools
Student Work
PaulaSigchosUrbanGreenSpacesProject Urban_Green_Space_Project_1__1_-1Supporting Materials
Cole, H. V., Triguero-Mas, M., Connolly, J. J., & Anguelovski, I. (2019). Determining the health benefits of green space: Does gentrification matter?. Health & Place, 57, 1-11.
Lopez, B., Kennedy, C., Field, C., & McPhearson, T. (2021). Who benefits from urban green spaces during times of crisis? Perception and use of urban green spaces in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban forestry & urban greening, 65, 127354.
Why is Climate Change a Public Health Issue?
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Dr. Nicole Kras, nicole.kras@guttman.cuny.edu, Associate Professor, Human Services, Guttman Community College
