Dr. Bruce W. Grant
Department of Biology, Widener University
Chester, PA, 19013, office Kirk.200, 610-499-4017 grant@pop1.science.widener.edu


Please Read This Comment.
This page was last modified 8 March 1998, and has been accessed times since 1 Jan, 1998.

ABSTRACT 1995 ANNUAL MEETING, ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Session 65, "Experimenting to Teach Ecology I: Undergraduates, Graduates, and Communities.
Wednesday, 2 August, 1995, 08:30.
Author: Bruce W. Grant.
Institution: Widener University
Address: Department of Biology, Widener University, One University Place, Chester PA 19013
Tel number: 610-499-4017, FAX: 610-499-4496.
 

BRUCE W. GRANT. Widener University, Chester, PA, 19013, USA.  Using student-directed ecological research as curriculum in an undergraduate ecology course.       For the laboratory portion of my junior undergraduate ecology course, students form research teams of 2-4, formulate an ecological research question on any ecological topic of interest to them, design a study to answer that question, carry out that study over a 7 week period, co-author a manuscript and poster, present their results at an in-class research symposium, submit their manuscript for anonymous review by other members of the class, author constructive reviews of others' manuscripts, and revise their manuscript according to their peers' and my suggestions for submission to an in-house ecological research journal. In sum, the students DO what ecologists do. For my role, I hold field workshops on ecological sampling, I help students focus their research to what could be addressed in 7 weeks, I hold weekly hour-long consults with each research team (to solve problems, do statistical analyses, make graphics, etc.), and I am the "editor" of the in-house ecological research journal. In sum, I facilitate their research and their communication of it. Results of a post-course survey suggest that, despite the demands of this course, students felt that the "research as curriculum" format enhanced their under-standing of ecology and of the process of scientific thinking more so than does a conventional lab format.

 

The reference for the above is:

Grant, B. W.  1995.  Using student-directed ecological research as curriculum in an undergraduate ecology course. Supplement to the Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 76 (#3, part 3): p. 334.

The abstract is Copyright - Ecological Society of America, 1995.

Please Read This Comment.

      You are welcome to download some or all of the material I have posted at this site for your use in your ecology course. This does not include commercial uses for profit. If you do use any lengthy exerpts (more than 2 lines) of the material above, I request that you formally acknowledge this site and/or sites I have acknowledged as the source(s). I also request that you reciprocate and send me a copy of your ecology materials so that I may see what you have put together.

Please send comments to me: grant@pop1.science.widener.edu.