Archbold Biological Station
Project FIRST
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Evaluation of February workshop
• Questionnaire
• How and Why walk
• Oak Gall Project
Goals for May workshop
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Review timetable
Clarify goals and objectives of workshops
More discussion of cooperative learning
More information on evaluation techniques
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jhodder/
The specific goals of the
FIRST project are to:
a. Use field stations as the foci to build and maintain coalitions of faculty who will
implement and sustain reform in undergraduate biology education at the field
station and in their colleges and universities.
b. Prepare teams at field stations to become regional professional developers of
biology faculty, including new faculty and post-doctoral students.
c. Enable the field station teams and associated faculty to gain experience in
inquiry-based science teaching and learning through workshops that model this kind
of science teaching.
d. Enhance faculty's ability to provide all students opportunities to gain scientific
understanding through direct experience with methods and processes of inquiry in
the field, and in undergraduate science courses.
e. Facilitate collaboration and communication among faculty about their reforms in
biology teaching using electronic media.
Distribution of OBFS field stations in USA,
and the 5 FIRST sites
St. Croix Watershed Research Station
San Diego State
University Field
Stations
Southwestern Research
Station
Hancock Biological
Station
Archbold Biological Station
Goals for Archbold Faculty Workshops
 Build a coalition of Florida institutions, in partnership with Archbold
Biological Station, to establish and support a regional network of faculty and
staff committed to enhancing the teaching of undergraduates.
 Use the facilities and field sites at Archbold, in conjunction with
explorations of available teaching methods, to increase participant’s
understanding of Florida ecosystems, and to enhance the ability of
participants to convey complex concepts in field biology to undergraduate
classes.
 Develop a series of inquiry-based, field exercises that could be incorporated
in a wide variety of undergraduate courses from introductory to upper-level.
 Give participants the opportunity to pose interesting questions in the field,
access scientific information at Archbold, seek instructional support, and
develop teaching strategies to address these questions.
 Encourage faculty and institutional interest to use field studies and field
sites, such as Archbold, as teaching forums, and promote general interest in
Florida ecosystems and species.
MAERC field project activities
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Background knowledge probe
Brief introduction to the MAERC field project (at Ranch)
Minute paper
Tour of MAERC site
Collection of field data at site
Brief project review
Concept mapping exercise
Minute paper
Background knowledge probe
assessment technique
• Determine starting point for a given exercise (specific
knowledge)
• Not a test – we had no expectations that anyone should
be familiar with these facts – simply to help make
effective instructional decisions
• Anonymous
• Give back the overall results
• Responses affected which material presented in our
introduction to the field exercise at the Ranch
Groups. 5 minutes per group to discuss their project.
3 minute presentations to briefly outline hypotheses,
methodology, and exploratory data
1.
Dr. Bradley Bennett
4.
Dr. Terence Farrell
Dr. Cindy Bennington
Mr. James Beever
Dr. Michael Binford
2.
Dr. Suzanne Koptur
Dr. Peter May
Dr. Stephen Mulkey
3.
Dr. Lyman O’Neal
Dr. Earl McCoy
Dr. Kaoru Kitajima
5.
Dr. Henry Mushinsky
Dr. Mark Brenner
Ranch field project assessment
• Concept mapping - a large scale drawing or diagram (wheel,
web, map, flow chart) showing the mental connections the
group makes between the major concept we focused on - the
multiple effects of grazing in pastures - and other concepts
you learned today, or are already familiar with
• You might think of this a bit like a food web - consider
abiotic and biotic factors as well as economic, and sociopolitical factors. Think of direct and indirect associations.
• Post drawing on the wall for all groups to review.
2 Minute paper
• How have you changed your mind about the
potential value of using such human modified
landscapes for teaching?
MAERC field project Evaluation
Evaluate whether met goals of MAERC field project
Evaluation by concept mapping
1.Develop ability to apply principles and generalizations already learned to new
problems and situations (relevance of ecology to other disciplines and usefulness
of human modified areas for study)
2. Develop ability to draw reasonable inferences from observations
3. Develop ability to synthesize and integrate information and ideas across
disciplines (interdisciplinary nature of project)
4.Develop ability to think holistically
5. Learn facts of this subject (also compare with background probe)
Evaluation by Minute paper
1. Improve listening skills
2. Learn to appreciate important contributions to this subject
3. Develop openness to new ideas
Evaluation by group participation
1. Ability to follow instructions directions and plans
2. Ability to work productively with others.
Evaluation Tools
What are your goals for student learning?
How do you know that you have achieved them?
Classroom assessment (also lab and fieldwork) involves
students and faculty in continuous monitoring of student’s
learning
•Give faculty feedback about their effectiveness as
teachers
•Give students a measure of their progress as learners
Angelo and Cross 1993, Classroom Assessment
Techniques - see handout.
Teaching goals
What are your goals for student learning?
In a course, class, laboratory or field exercise
1. Higher order thinking skills
2. Basic Academic success skills
3. Discipline specific knowledge and Skills
4. Liberal arts and academic values
5. Work and Career preparation
6. Personal development
Rank 1-5 scale from essential through not applicable.
Angelo and Cross 1993, Classroom Assessment
Techniques - see handout.
How will you know that your students have achieved
these goals? (assessment tools)
1. concept mapping (Higher order thinking skills)
2. minute paper (Basic Academic success skills)
3. background knowledge probe (Discipline specific
knowledge and Skills)
4. pro and con list from different perspectives (Liberal arts
and academic values)
5. directed paraphrasing (Work and Career preparation)
6. profiles of admirable individuals (Personal
development)
See cross tabulation of teaching goals versus assessment
tools (N=50).
Angelo and Cross 1993, Classroom Assessment
Techniques - see handout.
Planning for team field project
• This evening complete planning for the inquiry-based,
field-oriented exercise which your whole group will use
individually, or as a group, in a course or program (identify
which courses, explain how fits into the course), preferably
tackling concept (s) that students find difficult to grasp.
• List goals for the exercise (these may vary among faculty)
• Plan for which cooperative learning techniques to employ
• Consider evaluation tools appropriate to show if met goals.
• Fill in template form provided, digital version available too
May workshop TAB Team Field Projects. We will collect
these at end of evening to share among groups.
• Let us know where you want to do this exercise, and any
supplies you need, so we can be set for transport in the
morning.
Review of team field project
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Presentations
List goals for the exercise (these may vary among faculty)
Plan for which co-operative learning techniques to employ
Consider evaluation tools appropriate to show if met goals.
Complete template form provided, digital version available
too.
• Let us know where you want to do this exercise, and any
supplies you need, so we can be set for transport in the
morning.
How could teams use this workshop to facilitate more
students learning science better at their own institutions?
• How do you currently work with your other colleagues/ department
members in terms of teaching? In what ways do you interact with
peers in teaching? Do you co-plan courses or laboratories? Do you coteach? Do you co-process or co-analyze what your students know and
are able to do? Do you change your syllabi in response to interaction
with colleagues. Are faculty teaching interactions individually
promoted or institutionally driven?
• Do you have ideas for constructive changes in collaborating with
colleagues over teaching? How does your team plan to function upon
return to the university in terms of continuing to collaborate including providing each other constructive feedback??
• Think about - how your faculty team might measure and assess your
own and student progress? How to measure the impact of this
professional experience on the classroom/ lab/field post-workshop?
How could individuals and teams use this workshop to facilitate
more students learning science better at their own institutions?
• Neighbor introduction
• Observations of comments from “how you currently work with your other
colleagues/ department members in terms of teaching?” (DEM - 5 minutes)
• Write down the ideas you have for constructive changes in your own teaching which
you plan to try over the coming 7 months. 2 mins Individuals - each give one
example 10 minutes
• Write down the ideas you have for your team to continue to collaborate with
colleagues over teaching over the coming 7 months. In teams 20 minutes. Report 10
minutes ( 2 minutes each)
• How could you measure the impact (individually and as a team) of this workshop
experiences on the classroom/ lab/field post-workshop? (DEM discuss)
• List two institutional changes would most help you achieve these goals (DEM to
collate .