As a high school teacher who sees an enormous variation in student body from year to year, some of whom go off to top colleges and succeed, many of whom are first generation college hopefuls, and a large number of whom are even refugees here with at best erratic educational histories, I find the preoccupation with "should's" here a bit quaint. This is the 21st Century. My group may be an extreme example, but students are showing up these days with vastly different experiences than those we might have expected, even a decade ago. Whatever No Child Left Behind straightjackets or standardized testing they squeeze our kids through, there is no turning back. More and more students are seeking to include higher education in their lives, that's good. More and more students are seeking out courses that have to do with how our planet works, that's good, too. Whether it's Ecology, Environmental Science, whatever the course, when people ask me what I teach, I always have to remind them that, most importantly, I teach people. Whether it's my catch-all high school, a premium private school, or college, we all share an opportunity here, which is to shape the future. I think we have an obligation to meet our students where they are, and only then bring them as far as we can.
Steve Crowley At 05:39 AM 11/18/2007, James J. Roper wrote: >I teach ecology to grad students here in Brazil, and the problems are >similar. However, the simple truth of the matter is that Andy is apparently >teaching "ecology" to students who do not have the appropriate >pre-requisites.... Sure, the university may not force formal pre-requisites >on the students, but to study ecology, the student should already have >studied introductory biology (and so SHOULD know the difference between a >lizard and a salamander) and preferably other, more advanced, courses in the >biological sciences. Also, a fundamental premise of ecology is evolution by >natural selection - the students should understand that first. > >So, if the students do not have that background, then I think you are >wasting your time teaching "ecology" and what you should be teaching is >"environmental studies." That could easily be geared to unprepared >undergrads, and could fill in some of those voids that you mentioned you >students have. > >Cheers, > >Jim > >On 11/17/07, Andrew Park <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Hi Ecologgers, > > > > Responses are invited to the following thoughts, especially from > > experienced teachers: > > > > I teach a 2nd year course in basic Ecology at an undergraduate > > university. After four years of teaching this course, I am being > > drawn to the following conclusions: > > > > [1] ? The textbook is awful. Not only that, but all the textbooks I have > > looked at that are aimed at teaching an overview of Ecology seem to > > be > > chronically faulted: > > * There is simply too much stuff in them. My course is one semester > > long, but > > even if it were a full year course, I could probably cover less than > > 50% of > > this book. > > > > ** The books are grossly overpriced. Some students are unable to afford > > them, > > and since the publisher is constantly coming out with slightly > > altered ?new? > > editions, the resale price is low. > > > > *** The material they cover and their overall emphasis, appears to be > > poorly > > selected and framed given the tenor of current public discourse on > > ecology > > and environment. > > > > **** Finally, I believe that I can do this stuff better myself. > > Although there > > are commonalities among all universities, the sociocultural > > backgrounds of > > students and the bioregional contexts in which we work differ > > greatly. > > How can a mass-produced textbook ever hope to capture that? > > > > [2] ? Students today are different. Numerous research studies and even > > more > > anecdotal evidence suggest that numerical skills, basic literacy, > > the > > ability to organize information into coherent arguments, and > > engagement > > with the natural world are all worse than they were (even) a decade > > ago. > > And yet textbooks speak to students as though they know how to read > > a > > graph, as though they are sophisticated reasoners, and perhaps most > > importantly, as though they already understand the difference > > between > > salamanders and lizards, spiders and insects. NEWSFLASH ? THEY > > DON?T. > > > > [3] Because of [1] and [2], I conclude that I need to take a radically > > different approach to teaching this basic course: > > > > * The course needs to be longer, probably split into ?Basic? and > > ?Advanced? > > Semesters > > > > ** A module on the basic variety of life needs to be built into the > > course. > > > > *** The course has to contain materials relevant to modern environmental > > discourse. For example, discussions of energy transfer and primary > > productivity cannot really be taught without reference to the human > > appropriation of primary productivity. > > > > **** At the same time, the traditional technical basis for teaching > > ecology > > cannot be abandoned. the question is, how to make it as > > engaging as some > > of the more sexy, issue-based stuff. > > > > ***** Finally I believe that I may throw away the textbook, along > > with most of > > the powerpoints, the WEB-CT site and a lot of the other > > technological > > paraphernalia that often seems to distract as much as it informs. > > > > I WOULD LIKE TO GET SOME RESPONSE TO THESE THOUGHTS FROM > > TEACHERS. IN > > PARTICULAR: > > > > * Have any of you decided to chuck the required text and simply use > > handouts > > and readings? > > > > ** Have you changed the ways that you teach, either to reflect our > > current > > environmental crisis, or to reflect the preparedness of students. > > > > *** What, in your opinion, are the ESSENTIAL things that we have to teach > > in > > basic Ecology courses. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > Andy Park (Biology Department, University of Winnipeg) > > > > > >-- >James J. Roper, Ph.D. > >Ecologia e Dinâmicas Populacionais >de Vertebrados Terrestres > >Caixa Postal 19034 >81531-990 Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil > >E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Telefone: 55 41 33857249 >Mobile: 55 41 99870543 > >http://www.bio.ufpr.br/ecologia/ Ecologia e Conservação na UFPR > >http://jjroper.googlespages.com Personal Pages
