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Pathways to Scientific Teaching
Edited by Diane Ebert-May, Michigan State University, and Janet Hodder, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
March 21, 2008
206 pages, 85 illustrations
paper
About the Book
Pathways to Scientific Teaching is based on a series of two-page Pathways articles, originally published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, that illustrate effective instructional methods to help students gain conceptual understanding in ecology. This book is neither a set of recipes for active learning nor an example of how to build a course. Rather, it presents a philosophy of scientific teaching based on pedagogical principles and methods reported to help students improve their higher-level thinking abilities.
Chapter 1 sets the tone for the entire book, describing how to structure and sustain a learning community that engages students in active learning from the first minute of the first day of class. Subsequent chapters open with Overviews that offer insight into how students learn and provide continuity among chapters. The core of each chapter consists of units which combine a research paper with an associated Pathways article, as they were originally published. The Pathways articles use the research papers in a variety of ways to assist student learning. Although the original Pathways articles are tied to specific research papers, they can easily be adapted to different research papers or readings from a variety of sources.
The units use a backward design framework. First, the instructor determines learning goals—what the students should know and be able to do. Next, the instructor determines what would be acceptable evidence that students are achieving the goals, and designs the assessments that will measure their progress. Finally, the instructor plans active-learning activities. The activities in each article take place during one or two class periods, and many units include student work outside of class time.
Pathways to Scientific Teaching presents methods that will facilitate student learning through the process of scientific discovery, and will render even the largest lecture class more engaging, interactive, and learner-centered.
Reviews and Commentary
“… anyone who cares about student learning will find something useful in this book. Faculty in the beginning stages of this transition will find an easy-to-follow guide for implementing the provided resources into their classrooms …. Faculty who have made the transition already will find this book a good source of best-practices that can be implemented directly or used as models for creating new teaching materials.”
—Michelle D. Withers, Ecology
Table of Contents
Forward
Acknowledgments
Ecological Society of America
Introduction
1. The First Day of Class—The Most Important
2. Faculty: Organizing the Flow of Class
- Overview
- Rising atmospheric CO2 and carbon sequestration in forests
P. A. Beedlow, D. T. Tingey, D. L. Phillips, W. E. Hogsett, and D.M. Olszyk - Climate change: confronting student ideas
D. Ebert-May, K. Williams, D. Luckie, and J. Hodder - The rising tide of ocean diseases: unsolved problems and research priorities
D. Harvel, R. Aronson, N. Baron, J. Connell, A. Dobson, S. Ellner, L. Gerber, K. Kim, A. Kuris, H. McCallum, K. Lafferty, B. McKay, J. Porter, M. Pascual, G. Smith, K. Sutherland, and J. Ward - Marine Pathology: revealing the ocean's etiology to earthbound students
J. Hodder, D. Ebert-May, K. Williams, and D. Luckie
3. Students: Doing Science
- Overview
- Generality in ecology: testing North American grassland rules in South African savannas
A. K. Knapp, M. D. Smith, S. L. Collins, N. Zambatis, M. Peel, S. Emery, J. Wodjak, M. C. Horner-Devine, H. Biggs, J. Kruger, and S. J. Andelman - Practicing scientific inquiry: what are the rules?
D. Ebert-May, K. S. Williams, E. P. Weber, J. Hodder, and D. Luckie - Divided culture: integrating agriculture and conservation biology
J. E. Banks - Ecological controversy: analysis to synthesis
K. S. Williams, D. Ebert-May, D. Luckie, and J. Hodder - The effects of atrazine and temperature on turtle hatchling size and sex ratios
E. J. Willingham - Determining confidence: sex and statistics
T. L. Derting, D. Ebert-May, J. Hodder, and E. P. Weber - A call to ecologists: measuring, analyzing, and managing ecosystem services
C. Kremen and R. S. Ostfeld - Lyme disease: a case about ecosystem services
C. Richmond, D. Ebert-May, and J. Hodder
4. Students: Reading Science
- Overview
- Human-induced long-term changes in the lakes of the Jianghan Plain, Central Yangtze
J. Fang, S. Rao, and S. Zhao - Collaborative learning—a jigsaw
C. Finelli, D. Ebert-May, and J. Hodder - Loss of foundation species: consequences for the structure and dynamics of forested ecosystems
A. M. Ellison, M. S. Bank, B. D. Clinton, E. A. Colburn, K. Elliott, C. R. Ford, D. R. Foster, B. D. Kloeppel, J. D. Knoepp, G. M. Lovett, J. Mohan, D. A. Orwig, N. L. Rodenhouse, W. V. Sobczak, K. A. Stinson, J. K. Stone, C. M. Swan, J. Thompson, B. Von Holle, and J. R. Webster - Problem solving: a foundation for modeling
J. Hodder, G. Middendorf, and D. Ebert-May
5. Faculty and Students: Assessing Multiple Ways
- Overview
- Novel weapons: invasive success and the evolution of increased competitive ability
R. M. Callaway and W. M. Ridenour - Novel assessments: detecting success in student learning
K. S. Williams, D. Ebert-May, D. Luckie, J. Hodder, and S. Koptur - Effects of deposited wood on biocomplexity of river corridors
A. Gurnell, K. Tockner, P. Edwards, and G. Petts - Learning through peer assessment
L. M. Nagel, D. Ebert-May, E. P. Weber, and J. Hodder - Can crop transgenes be kept on a leash?
M. Marvier and R. C. Van Acker - Unleashing problem solvers: from assessment to designing research
D. Ebert-May, J. Hodder, E. Weber, and D. Luckie
6. Students: Preparing Homework for Class
- Overview
- Losing pieces of the puzzle: threats to marine, estuarine, and diadromous species
C. V. Kappel - Active Homework—preparation for active classes
D. Ebert-May, D. L. Linton, J. Hodder, and T. Long - The ecological-societal underpinnings of Everglades restoration
F. H. Sklar, M. J. Chimney, S. Newman, P. McCormick, D. Gawlik, S. Miao, C. McVoy, W. Said, J. Newman, C. Coronado, G. Crozier, M. Korvela, and K. Rutchey - Unraveling complexity: building an understanding of Everglades restoration
J. Hodder, D. Ebert-May, and K. S. Williams - How many endangered species are there in the United States?
D. S. Wilcove and L. L. Master - Here today, not gone tomorrow?
E. Gaiser, K. Rosenfeld, D. Ebert-May, E. P. Weber, and A. McConney
7. Faculty: Moving from Assessment to Research
- Overview
- E-commerce and Caulerpa: unregulated dispersal of invasive species
L. J. Walters, K. R. Brown, W. T. Stam, and J. L. Olsen - Bridging the pathway from instruction to research
J. M. Batzli, D. Ebert-May, and J. Hodder - Will human-induced changes in seawater chemistry alter the distribution of deep-sea scleractinian corals?
J. M. Guinotte, J. Orr, S. Cairns, A. Freiwald, L. Morgan, and R. George - Coding to analyze students’ critical thinking
J. Hodder, D. Ebert-May, and J. Batzli - Environmental cleanup using plants: biotechnological advances and ecological considerations
E. A. H. Pilon-Smits and J. L. Freeman - Designing research to investigate student learning
D. Ebert-May, J. M. Batzli, and E. P. Weber - Analyzing results: the tip of the iceberg
D. Ebert-May, E. P. Weber, J. Hodder, and J. M. Batzli
8. Faculty: A Community of Researchers
Full Citations
References
Index
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