Blog Entry #8

1) Class activities for my Evolution course:

The first activity that came to mind when I was reading the chapter on High and Low Stakes Writing was actually Middle Stakes Writing. I like the idea of low stakes writing, but I would like there to be a little more structure to the assignment. I think that Middle Stakes Writing is a good blend of getting students to think about a topic freely while still being able to communicate their ideas to the teacher. After looking through my book collection I found my copy of The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson which I think would be a good supplemental book for my class. It has interesting chapters that the students could read and write a two page response about what they learned and how it applies to their concept of evolution. These writings would be due every other week and would not make up a significant amount of their grade, but it would be enough to keep them working at it. I would like to read through these quickly and make a few comments where it would be helpful before handing them back so that this could lead into a bigger writing assignment toward the end of the semester. I think that this level of writing will get the students to write down what they learned from lectures as well as the reading while not being a stressful experience like a test or term paper. It will also allow me to follow their progress throughout the semester to see if there is a piece of information that isn't being absorbed as well as other topics. As the book says, writing is a more private way to express things and it can be valuable for learning what concerns the students are having. I hate it when teachers just start calling on students out of the blue to ask a question about how I feel regarding a topic.

In the active learning chapter I found that the Syndicate idea for team learning had the most merit for what I want to do. The class could break up into small groups and cover a small topic for each section of the course. When the groups are formed towards the beginning of the semester they will be given a general topic that will be covered in class that they will have some time to look into and they will be able to report this back to the class after we are done covering the material so that the reporting day will act as a review day for the class. As the semester progresses and the topics get harder the groups will have more time to do the research in class, so the topics may be a little more complex. With the Hardy-Weinberg section there will be a lot of focus on the math in lecture, so I think the groups could focus more on the interesting side facets like sex linkage differences across species, inbreeding, and polyploidy. Since there is a lot of material that is interrelated the students would get a really good grip on one topic and be able to see how that links to other topics when the other groups report. I wouldn't really expect the groups to spend a long time reporting to the class, but there would need to be a certain amount of information covered and perhaps a rotation among the group as to who the spokesperson is each session. Syndicate learning would combine the active learning themes of teaching peers, working in a group, and discussing/debating issues to get the most out of learning.

As far as problem based learning is concerned I would like to use case studies. These can bring out a deeper level of thinking because the students would need to see the big picture and link together their ideas with the possible ramifications of their decisions. There are a lot of areas in evolution that can be discussed thoroughly by a class without ever bringing up a really sensitive topic. The students could do these in their syndicate groups during topics that don't have a very good structure for the syndicate learning like micro/macro evolution. The group would get a case study involving a species of animal that is currently causing a conservation problem somewhere. The would be expected to tell how the issue got to the point that it has reached. For example there could be a group with the Red Wolf that needs to show how human encroachment and hunting extirpated the species from its natural range. They would then need to cover the possible plans for resolving the problem. That could mean things like reintroduction or using zoos as arks for these species. The students would also need to look into the problems that their solutions cause. For the Red Wolf this could be something along the lines of people opposing reintroduction of wolves near where they live or farm. There are a lot of different case studies out there that I could used for this and there is never a limit for opposing viewpoints as to how to deal with these issues. To list a few there are: wolves v. ranchers, Florida panthers v. population encroachment, Delta Smelt v. California water usage, Devil's Hole Pupfish v. a golf course, Prairie Chickens v. habitat loss, and Sea Otters v. oil spills, bivalve farmers, and genetic bottlenecks to name a few. They could compare their issues with some similar cases that have run their course and see if there are any similarities. I think this would be better received by the ECS students in my class, but there is a general interest in this sort of course that should keep people interested.


2) Best practices from in class activities:

The teaching demonstrations that we have had so far have all had interesting ways of getting people involved that enhance learning. I generally liked the more active activities the best. When we were able to get into groups and discuss things that we just learned in the lecture, I was more willing to think critically about the topics. The book suggests that this is effective because there is a difference between peer communication and teacher-student communication. I think that this is true to some extent. I would be more likely to just take the teachers information at face value and not think about it deeper unless I needed to compound on it and reply back. With a group of peers there is less veneration and more bouncing around of ideas. It is also a little easier to ask dumb questions in small groups than in large groups. I am more likely to ask a dumb question that may help me out if there is nobody that can outright say that I am wrong. Along with this method the teacher also goes around the room and contributes to each group conversation while not being the center of the conversation. Finally group work allows me to be a sort of teacher as well. Even if I am not an expert on the topic, I can still try and help others learn what we talked about in class. The Active Learning section of the text says that studies have showed students who teach material to other students learn more than students who simply read the material. I guess that I would agree because if I am studying alone the only person hurt by a mistake is me, but if I am in a group there are other people involved and i am more likely to take extra care in covering the information.

I like the activities that are well explained the best. I don't necessarily mean that I need to know why I am doing something at first, but I would like clear directions at the beginning that I can refer back to during the activity. I can be oblivious to the reason for what I am doing as long as I know what to do, but there should be some form of wrapping up the activity that brings the reason for doing it at the end. If there is never any mention of why I did something that makes it seem like there is no point and that I need to forget it right away to make room for better information. Based off of my thinking the introduction and conclusion to the activity are as important as the activity itself.

There is a good PBS website that has case study videos for evolution that could be used in my course rather than having to make up some homemade examples.
I could also see myself using something similar to Berkeley's Evolution 101 website for some of the earlier writings where students can select a topic out of their phylogeny and write about it knowing that I have access to the site and can ensure they are going a little above simply copying. This would be an option for some of the earlier writings before getting into the meat of a E.O. Wilson style book. While it is a great book this plan may ease students into the assignment a little better.