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Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Chapter 3b of 7: Ecological controversy: analysis to synthesis

The article by John Banks [attached] outlines innovative programs worldwide that integrate the seemingly opposed goals of agriculture and conservation biology to produce mutually beneficial outcomes. This ecological conflict and subsequent movement towards integration provides an opportunity for students to actively learn science by structuring arguments for both sides of an issue, then synthesizing and integrating the best evidence and reasoning into a position statement. The intellectual skill of challenging the thinking of others by developing arguments is highly desirable in undergraduates (Conley 2003). By practicing critical analysis of arguments, students can move toward higher levels of reasoning (Toulmin 1958). A common concern of instructors is “giving up” lecture time to implement student-centered activities during class. In part, this is based on the poorly supported assumption that students learn best through lecture (Posner et al. 1982; Bransford et al. 1999). However, research shows that students construct understanding better by interacting and processing information in small groups (Johnson et al. 1996; Springer et al. 1999). Nevertheless, the challenges of implementing small group experiences in large classes are not trivial, nor is ensuring student accountability for participation. Here we use a structured controversy based on Banks’ paper to help students understand a complex ecological problem, and provide instructors with multiple forms of assessment to determine if the controversy “works” (ie helps students achieve the goals).
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Resource Group "Pathways to Scientific Teaching" is based on a series of two-page articles published in "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment" from August 2004 to June 2006 that illustrated effective instructional methods to help students gain conceptual understanding in ecology (Diane Ebert-May and Janet Hodder, 2008).

This installment of the Pathways to Scientific Teaching series describes one or more instructional strategies that use scientific papers to teach selected concepts. While specific journal articles are used in demonstrating these strategies, we would like to emphasize that each activity in the Pathways series has been designed for use with any scientific article on a similar topic, and not just the example shown here.

Note that in addition to undergraduate faculty, many high school teachers can use these articles as well in their biology courses.
Resource Group Link http://ecoed.esa.org/index.php?P=AdvancedSearch&Q=Y&FK=%22Pathways+to+...
Primary or BEN resource type
Secondary resource type
Discipline Specific Core Concepts
Life science discipline (subject)
Keywords structured controversy, small groups, agriculture, conservation biology
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description In a large (or small) class setting, the instructor engages students with a relevant current issue, then guides groups of four students, subdivided into pairs, through the process of controversy and resolution. In this example, all groups address the following issue: Both agriculture and conservation biology stakeholders are concerned with managing natural resources, despite conflicting goals of food production versus maintenance of biological diversity.

This installment of the Pathways to Scientific Teaching series describes one or more instructional strategies that use scientific papers to teach selected concepts. While specific journal articles are used in demonstrating these strategies, we would like to emphasize that each activity in the Pathways series has been designed for use with any scientific article on a similar topic, and not just the example shown here.

Note that in addition to undergraduate faculty, many high school teachers can use these articles as well in their biology courses.
Aggregation Level
Structure
Full Name of Primary Author Diane Ebert-May
Primary Author Controlled Name
Primary Author Affiliation Michigan State University
Primary Author email ebertmay@msu.edu
Secondary Author Name(s) Kathy S Williams 1, Douglas Luckie 2, and Janet Hodder 3
Secondary Author Affiliation(s) 1 San Diego State University, 2 Michigan State University, and 3 University of Oregon
Added By Id
  • Celia
Rights Copyright 2008, the Ecological Society of America
License
Publisher
Review type
Drought and Water Ecosystem Services Collection Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection Off
Big Data Collection Off
Editors Choice No
Resource Status
Date Of Record Submission 2011-12-02
I Agree to EcoEdDL's Copyright Policy & Terms of Use No
Date Of Record Release 2012-03-05 11:42:13
Last Modified By Id
  • tmourad
Date Last Modified 2013-11-27 09:41:31
Release Flag Published

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