The Teaching Pentagon
A quantitative, integrative approach to
teaching Ecology
Bryan Dewsbury
Florida International University, Miami, Florida
A call for change
New ways to integrate
disciplines and quantify
Biology
Integration issues
• Integrative biology lecture classes sometimes
light on content
• Adding literature component to lecture class
time consuming
• Instructor training needed for the addition of
other disciplines as well as quantitative
techniques
• Integration strategies typically integrate topics
not learning mechanisms
Explicit Aims
• Contextualization
• Reinforcement
• Integration
The Teaching Pentagon
Lecture
Statistics I/II
PLTL
General
Biology
Lab
Journal Club
General Biology Lecture
Peer-Led Team-Learning
Journal Club
General Biology Lab
Statistics I (sophomore)
LECTURE
JC
PLTL
LAB
UNIT IV: ALLIGATOR TALES – Population ecology, community ecology and the American
Alligator
LECTURE
JOURNAL CLUB
(readings class)
Exam III
The Census - Population Hornbach and
Ecology (Ch. 56)
Childers 1986
26-Oct
PLTL
24-Oct
PLTL
28-Oct EDCs and Ecotoxicology
The American Alligator 31-Oct niches and interactions
It takes a village Milnes and
Community Ecology (Ch.
Gillette Jr. 2008
57)
2-Nov
Ecosystems Dynamics (Ch.
58)
4-Nov
7-Nov
Food Inc.
9-Nov
Food Inc. II
VETERAN'S DAY
LAB
Let every man, woman and
child be counted - The
population demographics of
mosquitofish (Data analysis
HW)
PLTL
It takes a village - Nutrient and
energy dynamics in a contained
community (Lab Report II due;
HW- Data analysis)
PLTL
May the best plant win Competition and adaptation in
plants
The Teaching Pentagon
Lecture
Statistics I/II
PLTL
General
Biology
Lab
Journal Club
Alligator tales lecture
• General discussion about
niche effects and
interspecies interactions
• Community effects of
changes in species
abundance
• Role of alligators as
keystone species in
Everglades ecosystem
The Teaching Pentagon
Lecture
Statistics I/II
PLTL
General
Biology
Lab
Journal Club
PLTL session
• Guided discussion of tricky
concepts
• Led by a biology major
upperclassman
• Relaxed, pressure-free
environment
The Teaching Pentagon
Lecture
Statistics I/II
PLTL
General
Biology
Lab
Journal Club
Journal Club
The Teaching Pentagon
Lecture
Statistics I/II
PLTL
General
Biology
Lab
Journal Club
Community Ecology Lab
• Guided-inquiry
• Focus on experimental design and data interpretation
The Teaching Pentagon
Lecture
Statistics I/II
PLTL
General
Biology
Lab
Journal Club
Calculus/Statistics
• Creation of modules in calculus that combines
biological and mathematical solutions
• Use of data set to teach statistical analysis in
Statistics 1
• Data has both statistical and biological
meaning
Benefits
• Allows lecture to focus on concepts
• Lab can focus on experimental design and not
have to “re-lecture”
• Students who learn differently can benefit
from multi-pronged approach
• Training tool for graduate student TAs
Future
• Assessment scheme has just been fully
implemented
• Upscaling philosophy to high-enrollment
classes