Research

While research is not an official part of my role here in the UD Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, the scientist in me is always asking questions! Since my focus is on student learning and effective teaching practices in wildlife ecology…my questions follow along those lines.

My current interests are in the use and effectiveness of PBL (problem-based learning) and service learning.

Can PBL…

· Foster a positive attitude toward science? – Especially among non-science majors?

· Engage questions of ethics and recognize responsibilities to self, community, and society at large? (UD General Education Goal #4)

· Aid in the understanding of how the attitudes, ethics and values that humans hold about wildlife influence decision-making in wildlife conservation?

· Engage distance education students to work collaboratively and think critically in an online classroom setting?

Can Service Learning…

· Provide first-year wildlife students with ‘real-life’ exposure to the situations they are likely to encounter in futures as wildlife ecologists? And can this experience during the first-year increase in retention of students in the wildlife major?

· Develop the ability to integrate academic knowledge with experiences that extend the boundaries of the classroom? (UD General Education Goal #7)

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Previous Research

While teaching at the University of Wisconsin – Rock County (2000-2004), I began incorporating case studies and PBL in my introductory environmental science class (Biology 103/107). A majority of the students enrolled in the course were not science majors. In fact, many of the students were education majors, fulfilling the state certification requirement for science. Most of the students were more than willing to share that “I am not very fond of science”, “tried to avoid it [science requirement] as long as I could”, and were taking the course to “find something I actually like about science”.

Surveys were given to the students on the second day of class and again on the final day of class during the summer session of 2003. The data was analyzed using one way analysis of variance to detect differences between the pre-test and the post-test results.

The use of case studies and PBL appeared to be an effective method to foster an understanding of environmental issues. The students indicated methods such as case studies and class/group, discussions, debates and assignments based on the case studies and problems, as well as quizzes and exams, were helpful methods for learning science.

At the conclusion of the course, the students indicated a greater concern for all the environmental issues discussed throughout the semester. In particular, they demonstrated an increased concern over fossil fuels, pesticide use in farming and ground level ozone.

While the results for the course and its methodologies did not indicate an improved attitude towards science with statistical significance, the overall trend indicates a more positive outlook.

Click here to view the complete results as presented on a poster at the UW Colleges Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Workshop held at the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac in August 2003.

The study was repeated in the same course during the summer session of 2004. However, due to the birth of my son and a cross country move, those results have not yet been analyzed.

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Future Research

During the upcoming year, I will be developing several questionnaires to serve as pre and post-tests for students. These surveys will attempt to address the questions posed above about the use of PBL and service learning in wildlife ecology.