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Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Chapter 4b of 7: Problem solving: a foundation for modeling

Reading and discussing primary literature is central to communicating science. Students need practice in reading the literature for purposes beyond gaining information. Literature can be used to both increase knowledge and comprehension and to engage students in higher-level thinking (Bloom 1956; Levine 2001; Gillen et al. 2004; Finelli et al. 2005). Because science is also about making predictions and testing models, using information gained from reading to construct models allows students to develop problem-solving skills (Starfield et al. 1994). Ellison et al. [attached] provide information on how the removal of foundation species has affected the structure and function of a wide range of forest communities. In this article, we show how the Ellison et al. paper can be used to help students make connections between their prior knowledge and new information. Students explain the causes and effects of forest decline and the ecological processes involved by developing an explicit model that interconnects the data presented in the paper. They confer with their peers to explain and refine their models and then use the knowledge represented in their models to make predictions about novel situations. In this way, students actively develop their understanding of science and practice their ability to solve problems.
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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 problem solving, models, foundation species, ecosystem dynamics
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description Instructor goals: 1) Use a jigsaw assignment as an effective way to analyze literature. 2) Use group and individual instructional strategies to enable students to actively construct understanding of foundation species effects on ecosystem function by building descriptive models. 3) Assess understanding of ecosystem functions by giving students novel examples to apply their understanding and test predictions.

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) J Hodder 1, G Middendorf 2
Secondary Author Affiliation(s) 1 University of Oregon, 2 Howard University
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 11:46:20
Last Modified By Id
  • tmourad
Date Last Modified 2013-11-27 09:47:37
Release Flag Published

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