College education in the United States is undergoing a “quiet revolution” as more and more educators are discovering and introducing new methods of active learning to “help college students become intentional learners who can adapt to new environments, integrate knowledge from different sources, and continue learning throughout their lives” (AACU, 2002). Involvement of the students into ongoing research, which serves the local community, is one of the most effective methods of motivating students to become intentional learners.

At the SUNY College at Oneonta we developed a new Environmental Geology course built around the group project focused on scientific, legal, historical, and social aspects of the local environmental problem – intense soil and groundwater contamination at the site of the former Manufactured Gas Plant. In this project students collected, analyzed and synthesized data from a variety of sources and developed a web page presenting their findings and opinions.

The purpose of this project was to introduce the basic topics of environmental geology through cooperative, informal, self-directed learning, to demonstrate the role of scientific research in solving a complex environmental problem, and to increase students' awareness of and responsibility for the world around them. The strongest motivation for the students in performing this research was to develop an up-to-date online resource for the local community.

We report the course structure, organization of the research, and evaluation of effectiveness of our approach, as well as difficulties and challenges associated with this project.