"Faculty workshops in field
ecology at Archbold:
an opportunity to enrich the
teaching of ecology for your
undergraduate students"
| Brad Bennett |
Reduce factual information introduced in class by 25%.
Implement small group discussions.
Shift focus of lab from observation to inquiry.
|
| Suzanne Koptur |
Assessed basic knowledge in my (small) Plant Ecology class by
giving short quizzes, then discussing the responses.
Covered much less material but in more depth (however, assigned
more reading as background).
Half of classes were devoted to student-led discussions of
scientific papers.
Like to plan a workshop for teaching assistants using inquiry-based
methods.
|
| Brad & Suzanne |
Team-teach a new course, Plant Communities of Florida.
|
| Stephen Mulkey |
Introduce cooperative learning and inquiry-based learning in
General Ecology Lab.
Break lectures into themes. Synthesize using questions at the
end of each of theme.
Review the primary points of the previous lecture at the
beginning of each new lecture.
|
| Kaoru Kitajima |
Utilized inquiry-based methods to generation hypotheses.
Group labor division - have students take turns in group roles.
Use guided inquiry-based field labs.
Clearer presentation of objectives and goals.
Use innovative evaluation methods.
Make lectures attention span friendly.
Increase collaboration through guest lectures, joint development
of class material and field exercises.
|
| Mike Binford |
Made objectives for each lecture/section of course more explicit
at beginning of lecture or section (in 150 student, 2000 level
course).
Increased attention to evaluating student understanding by using
alternative evaluation tools.
Use concept map (actually a more well-defined version with
determined meanings for different symbols i.e. boxes & arrows)
for advanced undergrad and graduate class.
|
| Mark Brenner |
Integrate more inquiry-based, cooperative-learning techniques in
Field Ecology.
Collaborate with a colleague on the Graduate Seminar course and
bring in guests from other departments.
Students keep a diary during field trips and write a paper on one
ecosystem we visit. I can see the possibility of making this a
more cooperative project that includes oral presentations so that
the students can learn from the effort and provide feedback.
|
| James Beever |
Plan joint field trips. We share useful information and logistic
information, but often I am working alone.
Increase pre and post environmental attitude surveys and
incorporate more hypothesis development into current labs.
Include more breaks into lectures and reduce use of videotapes.
Examine possible restructuring of schedule to concentrate more
fully on a limited set of subjects.
|
| Lyman O'Neal |
I will be converting my classes to an integrated lecture-lab
format.
We plan to incorporate this activity [Track Trapping, scat
searching, and Direct Observation...] into the lab manual we use in
Ecosystems of SW Florida.
Field trip to Archbold.
Share the results of this workshop with my colleagues on the
Charlotte Campus and perhaps the other campuses of Edison CC.
Measure impact by comparing survey results from the beginning and
end of the class.
|
| Peter May |
Field exercise developed, but no opportunity for using it within
the next few months.
Modify structure of Vertebrate Zoo (Fall 99) to reduce emphasis
on standard lectures 3 times per week.
Explicitly describe learning goals for - Vertebrate Zoo (Fall 99).
Incorporate peer teaching and group learning exercises during
class periods.
Change focus of field trips from introduction to specific habitat to
mini-field project format.
Incorporate specific methods for assessing each goal beyond
traditional tests currently employed. Utilize concept maps and minute
tests.
|
| Terry Farrell |
Concept mapping for fire ecology field trip for non-majors in
Environmental Science.
Develop a xeric-adaptation plant-lab based on the UF model for
General Biology.
Use our Odonata Lab in class.
Increase the number of multi-week lab exercises in General Biology.
|
| Cindy Bennington |
Used cooperative-learning strategies in lecture course, Evolution. Incorporated small group discussions during class. In one case, I assigned one paper to half the class and a different paper to the other half of the class. Students discussed the papers they had read then each group presented information to the other half of the class. I facilitated this by writing three questions I thought they should answer as they described the paper to their peers.
Interested in trying new methods of assessment like the minute paper
(not as keen on concept mapping) and possible others from the CAT
book recommended.
Also want to try to employ more breaks in lecture by using 'engaging
questions'.
|
| Henry Mushinsky and Earl McCoy | Data not collected. |