Monday, June 15, 2009

Sample Syllabus for EnEd 550

This is the Syllabus I developed for EnEd 550 - Research Materials and Methods for Environmental Education.

EnEd 550 - Research Materials and Methods for Environmental Education

An experiment is a question which science poses to Nature, and a measurement is the recording of Nature's answer. ~Max Planck

Session 1, 2008/2009
Merry Lea Learning Center
Mon. 1-3pm, Th. 9-10am, F. 8-11am

Instructor – Lisa Zinn
lisarz@goshen.edu, office (260) 635-2487, home (cell) 260-564-4771

Purpose – This course is designed as a survey course to expose you to a wide range to equipment and methods that are used to study natural systems. You will also think about how research can be used as a teaching tool in environmental education.

Learning Objectives – The following are the main learning objectives for this course

A. Students will learn collect data using commonly used ecological sampling methods for biotic and abiotic factors in both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

B. Students will be introduced to population study designs and methods for plants, birds, and some mammals.

C. Students will understand and be able to use hand-held GPS units as well understanding the basic principles of GIS and knowing how it can be applied.

D. Students will be able to conduct water, air and soil sampling with both chemical and digital testing equipment including; HACH water kits, Hydrolab Datasonde, Gastec Air Probes, Lamotte soil kits, and Kestril Weather Meters.

E. Students will be able to use basic equipment for ecological surveys including; Quadrats, Mist Nets, and Live capture animal traps.

F. Students will understand the benefits of using research as a teaching tool and they will have begun to consider ways to incorporate research into an educational setting.

G. Students will learn how to design and implement an effective survey instrument including how to conduct interviews and how to avoid confounding factors like self-selecting populations.

H. Students will be introduced to a range of educational research methods both qualitative and quantitative.

I. Students will learn how to present research results in effective ways, both in text and visual formats.

J. Students will gain experience in developing lesson plans that incorporate scientific research and data collection into the learning experience.

K. Students will evaluate the benefits of teaching through inquiry and how this can be done for a variety of teaching settings and age groups.


Course Format – The Course will be made up of the following components

A. Lecture – Students will be introduced to new concepts in class lecture
B. Field Work – Students will be introduced a wide range of testing equipment and methodology for ecosystem studies.
C. Class computer lab – Students will analyze their fieldwork data during a supervised lab time and learn how to present the results in ways that would be meaning full for students.
D. Lesson Plans – Each week students will be required to write up a lesson plan that includes some of the equipment and sampling methods studied in that week’s lab session.
E. Reading and Class discussion: Students will be assigned a series of readings from scientific papers. These studies will then be evaluated and discussed during class to help students to critically evaluate the study methods and conclusions.
F. Research Project: Students will be required to complete an small research project including data collection and analysis.


Texts

Brower, J., Zar, J., & von Ende, C (1998). Field and Laboratory Methods for General Ecology. Boston, MA: WCB McGraw-Hill.

Levine, D., & Stephan, D. (2005). Even you can learn Statistics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Optional

Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research, third edition.Sage Publications: Los Angeles.


Grading

Grading will be done with a letter grade system including pluses and minuses.

Class participation (5%)
Discussion Leading (15%)
Lesson Plans (30%)
Data Summaries (15%)
Research Project (35% total, 15% for proposal and 20% for final presentation)

Policies

Late Assignments – Late assignments will not be accepted. Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period for the data assigned unless otherwise stated.

Class Attendance – Full class attendance is expected. More than one absence will be reflected in the class participation grade.

Paper format – It is expected that any outside material be fully cited in any work that is handed in. Written work and citations should follow APA guidelines. An APA manual is available in the library for reference.



Course Schedule

7/10 – Introduction to the Course
Syllabus review
Ecological Sampling

7/11 – Lab – Spatial Positioning
Due: Reading, pg 1-6, 29-35 GE


7/14 – Water Quality Testing pt. 1
Due: Reading 57-61 GE


7/17 – Discussion 1
Lecture: inquiry learning
Due: Reading, paper 1

7/18 – Lab: Water Quality Testing pt. 2
Due: Spatial Positioning Lesson Plan
Reading 115-123 GE

7/21 – Discussion 2
Lecture: Diversity and Species Richness
Set Sherman traps
Due: Reading, paper 2
Reading 177-186 GE

**7/22 - Bird Banding
Check traps and mark rodents

**7/23 – Bird Banding
Check traps and mark rodents

7/24 – Check traps and mark rodents
Due: Diversity Exercise

7/25 – Lab: Population Studies
Capture/Recapture Analysis
Survivorship Analysis
Project Discussion
Due: Water Quality Lesson Plan
Reading 124-136 GE

7/28 – No Class

7/31 – Discussion 3
Lecture: Introduction to Statistics
Due: Capture Recapture Exercise
Reading paper 3
Reading 1-14 L+S

8/1 – Lab: Soil Testing
Due: Population Lesson Plan
Reading 46-53 GE

8/4 – Discussion 4
Lecture: Charts and Graphs
Due: Reading paper 4
Reading 17-46 L+S

8/7 – No Class – Project Wet Workshop



8/8 – Lecture: T-tests and Regression
Lab: Community Structure
Due: Soils Lesson Plan
Reading: 172-176 GE
Project Proposal

8/11 – Discussion 5
Lecture: ANOVA
Due: Reading paper 5
Reading 125-142, 155-166
Chart and Graph Exercise

8/14 – Integrative Session

8/15 – Lab: Forest Dynamics
Due: Community Structure Lesson Plan
ANOVA Exercise
Reading 188-192 GE

8/18 – Discussion 6
Lecture: Dominance and Importance
Due: Reading paper 6

8/21 – No Class

8/22 - Lab: Qualitative Sampling - Interviews
Survey Development
Due: Forest Dynamics Lesson Plan
Dominance and Importance Exercise
Reading TBA

8/25 – Lecture: Educational Research
Qualitative Sampling Analysis
Survey Development Activity
Due: Reading TBA

8/28 – Integrative Session

8/29 – Lesson Plan Trials
Due: Learning Survey


**9/26 – Project Presentations


Assignment Descriptions

Lesson Plans

Over the course of the class you will develop a total of seven lesson plans that will incorporate the research elements discussed in class. For each lesson you should pick one of the following age groups for the focus of your activity. You should do no more than three lesson plans for any one of the age groups. Make sure to identify on your lesson plan the target age group for your lesson.

Age Groups: Lower Elementary (pre K- second grade), 3rd and 4th grade, Middle School, High School, College, Adult.

The lesson should include some type of data collection and some way that data will be presented or summarized. It should also use at least one of the techniques or pieces of equipment introduced in the lab session.

1. Title
2. Goals: The General Goal or Goals of the lesson
3. Objectives: What do you hope the students will gain from participating in the activity
4. Target Age group
5. Background information (a paragraph or two giving important background information or the reason for the lesson)
6. Estimated time to complete the lesson
7. Materials: List materials that would be required for the activity
8. Major skills/concepts: List the major concepts and skills that your lesson will be using or teaching
9. Activity Description: This can be in narrative form or in a step by step procedural form
10. Vocabulary: List terms that may be new for the students and define them

Other elements can be included if you wish. Sample lesson plans and templates are available on-line if you would like to see examples.


Readings/Discussion Leading

There will be six readings from scientific papers during the class. These papers will then be discussed as a group in class. Each student will lead one of these discussion times. The focus of the discussion will be to evaluate the study design, methods, graphs, and conclusions of the paper. The first discussion will be professor led so students can see an example of a paper discussion.

Statistics Exercises

There will be five exercises based on the statistical methods discussed in the class. Details on these exercises will be provided at the time of the lecture.

Project Proposal – Due 8/8

The major project for this course is a research project. It may be any kind of research subject but it must include some data collection. The Proposal should include a problem statement laying out the purpose of this study and a literature review section with at least 12 sources. It should also include a materials and methods section describing the proposed data collection method and methods that will be used for data collection.

Final Project – Due 9/26

The final project will include a written paper and a presentation. The paper should include the information from the proposal and then in addition an abstract, results, discussion, and conclusion sections. Students should prepare a 20 min presentation of their project to give to student and faculty.

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