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Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Chapter 3d of 7: Lyme disease: a case about ecosystem services

One way to help students develop critical thinking skills is to focus on problems or cases where they are challenged to deal with real data and experiences (Bransford et al. 2004). Both problem-based learning and case studies allow students to develop the intellectual capacity to deal with complex issues, build confidence and willingness to approach topics from multiple perspectives, and encourage communication with scientists and peers from other disciplines. Students often compartmentalize content and process knowledge by discipline, whereas an interdisciplinary approach allows them to draw from multiple resources in the life sciences, mathematics, social sciences, and other disciplines. The literature is rich with examples and methods for using case studies (see References) and the majority of authors agree that if a case study is to be useful pedagogically, it must serve a specific function for the course and students. Such focus provides students with a more efficient means of achieving specific learning goals as compared to the traditional lecture approach (Herreid 1994, 1998).

Kremen and Ostfeld’s paper on ecosystem services [attached] contains two case studies that provide examples of how ecological data are not often collected or interpreted in isolation. We use the Lyme disease case study to demonstrate how real data can be used to teach complex topics, while enabling students to discover how a number of disciplines can inform ecological issues. This activity is designed for an ecology course but could also be used as part of an introductory biology course.
Associated files
Format
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 Lyme disease, honeybee, ecosystem services, case study
Key taxa Apis mellifera, Borrelia burgdorferi
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description Instructor goals: 1) Design instruction using an interdisciplinary case study.
2) Expose students to complex ecological concepts.

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) Courtney Richmond 1, Janet Hodder 3
Secondary Author Affiliation(s) 1 Rowan University, 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 2011-12-05
I Agree to EcoEdDL's Copyright Policy & Terms of Use No
Date Of Record Release 2012-03-05 11:44:17
Last Modified By Id
  • mcmilla
Date Last Modified 2013-05-23 10:16:49
Release Flag Published

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