The following is an excellent (and real) example of a spreadsheet alignment justification for TOI-5:

"Students are introduced to social science theories and concepts in lecture and students use those concepts to think about topics in the course. For example, in discussing strategies for enhancing sustainability of the food system, we talk about power vs. impact. The power any particular strategy has to make a difference in the food system and the impact, positive or negative, of that strategy. We also talk about social and environmental justice throughout the course. For example, we discuss the social justice issues that emerged in the Flint water crisis in the two week section on the water system. Each section of the course, water, energy/climate, food, urban, etc. has a social or environmental justice component as an example of one way students are introduced to different social science theories/concepts. Students must complete a semester project designed to help the Baltimore City Office of Sustainability understand what other cities (particularly those of comparable size and facing comparable risks) are doing to support the needs of their hearing-impaired and sight-impaired residents before, during and after a hazardous event. To support students work, I put together a series of skill building ‘workshops’ on literature reviews, interviewing and data analysis, poster design, etc. to teach students how to approach the assignment and relevant methods (in this case qualitative methods) to collect and analyze data. As part of the qualitative methods section, I discuss relevant ethical issues involved in interviewing as a data collection methodology. The course is organized into a series of mostly two week sections on the Energy/Climate System, Water System, Food System, etc. In each section, I define the system and sustainability issues related to that system providing a range of scientific evidence usually derived from the natural, physical and social sciences. In this way, students understand how humans—behavior, institutional/policy choices, etc.-- contribute both to sustainability problems and their solution. Students have two primary means to learn and practice with tools to analyze governments and social groups. First, through a homework assignment, students use C-Learn an online simulation tool to assign carbon reduction strategies to different country type (developed, developing tier 1, developing tier 2). By working through the online simulation and considering the political and social implications of carbon mitigation strategies, students learn to analyze and think about the challenges involved in trying to manage carbon at an international scale."